Funding boost for youth mental health support

Teachers and school staff will be better equipped to identify emotional and mental health issues in their pupils, thanks to a funding boost from Richmond Council.

In last night’s budget, Richmond Council announced funding for a new consultant, offering support to schools and teachers in identifying emotional and mental health issues early on.

Mental health issues in young people is a priority for Richmond Council, Richmond Clinical Commissioning Group and the Health and Wellbeing Board. The funding will be used to help identify the support schools need to identify mental health issues early. It will also highlight gaps in the current provision. In addition, it will fund training and specialist services to support schools effectively in working with young people who are experiencing emotional issues.

“Mental illness can be devastating for young people and their families. It is essential that they get the best possible care at the right time.

“We know that there are many pressures on young people, in school, at home and more increasingly online. And, in a recent young people led review by Healthwatch, they said more funding was needed for support.

“In many cases the mental health of young people is largely invisible; disguised as bad behaviour or missed because there are so many other pressures on their lives. This funding will help ensure the school staff are informed on how to identify possible issues early.

“Despite immense pressures on Council budgets, and losing 66% of our Government funding and needing to save £31m over the next 4 years, we feel that it is important to place additional investment in this area. It will allow us to act early and prevent any issues for these young people in later life.”